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IS GRAND BARGAIN OUT OF REACH DURING OBAMA PRESIDENCY? – “They’ve been wined and dined by President Barack Obama, spoken repeatedly with the White House chief of staff and met privately in the Capitol. But after months of talking, the grand bargain between the White House and congressional Republicans is just as elusive as ever,” Manu Raju and John Bresnahan report for the hometown paper. “As fall approaches, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough has met frequently with Republican senators in the hopes of finding consensus on an overarching fiscal deal. But the two sides are stuck in the same-old tax-and-spending debate — Democrats want to raise revenue, while Republicans refuse. The lack of progress underscores a growing belief in Washington: The long-sought grand bargain could very well be out of reach during the Obama presidency.

-- “The negotiations come against the backdrop of a double dose of fiscal drama — Congress must act to continue government spending by Sept. 30, or a government shutdown could ensue, and the debt ceiling must be hiked or the country could go into default sometime this fall. A short-term solution to the country’s fiscal woes seems more likely, but even that may not happen. Senators said Monday evening that a decision needs to be made: Should the two sides continue to focus on the grand bargain — a major reform of tax and entitlement programs — or instead on a much smaller goal of reforming the automatic sequestration cuts.” http://politi.co/12ZVssN

OBAMA HEADS TO THE ‘SCENIC CITY’ FOR ECONOMIC SPEECH – Kevin Hardy writes for the Chattanooga Times Free Press: “Even a glimpse of the limo will be enough for Sarah Steffner and her two children. They’re among the hundreds planning to welcome President Barack Obama to the Scenic City today, when he’ll lay out his proposal for recharging the nation’s economic engines through manufacturing and other high-wage jobs during a visit to the Amazon distribution center at Enterprise South industrial park. The company announced Monday that it is adding full-time jobs at the Chattanooga and Charleston, Tenn., plants as part of a national employment boost of about 5,000.

-- “So far, news of the president’s visit to Chattanooga has generated plenty of disdain, mockery and contempt. The Chattanooga Tea Party plans to picket near the Amazon fulfillment center. The Tennessee Republican Party aired a television ad touting the state’s economic boom so the president could ‘see what real leadership looks like.’ … And though she supports people’s right to protest, Steffner said she’s surprised by the reaction, even in a conservative stronghold like Tennessee. ‘Some of it just really seemed so aggressive, and I was really bothered by that,’ she said. ‘Southerners pride themselves on hospitality. And that means hospitality to everybody, not just the people you like.’” http://bit.ly/18KwNwN

-- SEN. BOB CORKER has dined and golfed with Obama, but the Tennessee Republican (and former Chattanooga mayor) won’t be on hand for today’s speech, WaPo’s Ed O’Keefe reports: “Corker’s staff insists that the senator’s absence isn’t personal and merely a matter of scheduling: It’s the final week of the Senate session before the five-week summer recess and the senator must attend meetings of the Banking and Foreign Relations committees on Tuesday. In response to inquiries, Corker sent along his regards: ‘Chattanooga is one of those great cities in the world, so it’s easy to see why any president would want to visit,’ he said in a statement. “In addition to our outstanding Amazon facility, I hope the president’s trip will also highlight other things that make Chattanooga a great place to live and work: a vibrant downtown and riverfront, the fastest Internet connection in the U.S., and the world’s first and only LEED Platinum certified car factory – VW Chattanooga – which has created more than 5,000 jobs in the region.’” http://wapo.st/1bEHOV3

-- ON SPEAKER BOEHNER’S BLOG, Katie Boyd rattles off the seven ways President Obama’s economic policies are hurting working Americans: “If those proposals look anything like the agenda he’s been pursuing,” she writes, “he’s facing a tough sell with American manufacturers who have repeatedly warned the president’s policies are holding back economic growth and making it harder to create jobs. Here’s how: 1) Blocking the Keystone Pipeline. 2) Threatening a Government Shutdown Over More Tax Hikes. 3) Imposing a National Energy Tax. 4) Putting Offshore Energy Off Limits. 5) Doubling Down on Failed ‘Stimulus’ Spending. 6) Implementing the ObamaCare Train Wreck. 7) Rolling Out Red Tape on Natural Gas Production. http://1.usa.gov/1bEHrJS

A1, Wall Street Journal 1-col lead, “Cities Begin Hiring Again: After Long Slump, Local Governments Add Teachers, Police,” By Mark Peters and Stephanie Banchero: “Cities across the U.S. are starting to hire new teachers, firefighters and police officers as a deep and prolonged slide in local-government employment appears to have bottomed out four years after the recession ended. … Monthly jobs data from the Labor Department show local governments, which make up about 65% of the overall government workforce, added workers in seven of the past eight months, the longest such streak in five years. So far this year, 46,000 new jobs have been created on a seasonally adjusted basis. Local-government employment through June stood at 14.08 million, the highest level in more than a year and a half, though still well below a peak of 14.61 million in mid-2008.” http://on.wsj.com/14xggHo

GREEN PAINT MARS D.C. LANDMARKS, HOMELESS WOMAN ARRESTED – Peter Hermann and Julie Zauzmer write on A1 of the Washington Post: “A wave of vandalism continued to mar some of Washington’s more popular landmarks Monday with at least three more attractions spattered with green paint, and authorities announced the arrest of a woman near one of the incidents at Washington National Cathedral. The latest crimes occurred three days after the Lincoln Memorial was hit in similar fashion. On Monday, the light-green paint was discovered on an organ in the cathedral’s Bethlehem Chapel, in the cathedral’s Children’s Chapel and on the granite base of a statue next to the Smithsonian Castle on the Mall. D.C. police said Monday evening that they had charged Jiamei Tian, 58, whom they believe to be homeless, with one count of defacing property.” http://wapo.st/13uKLNH

HOUSE DEMS: MEET THE ‘REPEALicans’ -- House Democrats are out with a new video today knocking the House GOP for voting for the 40th time to repeal or undermine Obamacare. A vote is set for later this week to prevent the IRS from enforcing the health care law. In the video, House Democrats brand their colleagues across the aisle as “REPEALicans” who are voting “to put insurance companies back in charge” using Speaker John Boehner’s “we ought to be judged” comment to CBS’s Bob Schieffer last week against him. House Dems will take to take the phrase to twitter with hashtag #REPEALicans. Watch here:http://youtu.be/ICkFTVWtAXY

WATCH THIS: POLITICO's Jake Sherman with what to watch on Capitol Hill this week: STOP IRS Act, student loans and the GOP's push before August recess. http://politi.co/15sNf3o

IMMIGRATION A LA CARTE – POLITICO’s Seung Min Kim outlines the five House GOP immigration bills that were passed out of committee when most of the focus was on the Senate’s Gang of Eight plan. 1)Border security: The Border Security Results Act calls on the Department of Homeland Security to create a plan to make sure that within five years, at least 90 percent of all illegal border crossings along the southwestern U.S. border are apprehended. 2) Agricultural workers: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), a key figure in immigration reform in the House, wrote legislation that would allow foreign agricultural workers to temporarily come to the United States. 3)High-skilled workers: Increasing the number of visas for high-skilled immigrants is an initiative that traditionally wins support from both Democrats and Republicans — and the Skills Visa Act is a core component of the House GOP’s immigration strategy.

-- 4)Interior enforcement: The House immigration bill that has stirred the most controversy is the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act …One major component is a provision that would allow state and local officials to carry out federal immigration law, and Republicans say the overall bill is needed to ensure immigration laws are being enforced — and in particular, to take away discretion from the Obama administration. 5)E-Verify: A mandatory employer verification system is another immigration proposal that generally wins all-around support from Congress. And underscoring the importance of a functioning E-Verify system, comprehensive bipartisan bills from both ends of the Capitol use it as a trigger. http://politi.co/1c9rNFO

-- The House Homeland Security’s unanimous vote on a border-security measure could “be a gateway to a broader agreement on immigration,” writes WaPo’s Ed O’Keefe: http://wapo.st/13ryr1N

-- And WaPo columnist Michael Gerson writes that the harsh tone some Republicans have taken with immigration reform may actually bolster its legislative prospects: http://wapo.st/19utPze

HUDDLE FIRST LOOK: CARDENAS, DENHAM TEAM UP FOR IMMIGRATION FORUM: Two California lawmakers – one Democrat, one Republican – are joining forces to host a briefing later this week on the economic benefits of immigration reform. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) will headline the event, to be held Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Cannon 210, according to an advisory set to be released later today. Joining the lawmakers will be Frederick R. Treyz, chief economist and CEO of Regional Economic Models, Inc., which recently conducted a study that examined the economic impact of immigration reform in each of the 50 states. “We have to stop making this a Republican issue or Democratic issue,” Cárdenas says in a statement . “We need to get around a table, have a serious discussion about the holistic problems in our immigration system and craft a common-sense solution. (h/t: Seung Min Kim)

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GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, July 30, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Many thanks to my talented colleague Ginger Gibson for filling in during a busy time on the Hill! Your Huddle host got to spend some quality time with family scattered throughout Northern California, visiting congressional districts represented by Jackie Speier, Nancy Pelosi, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Eric Swalwell, Jared Huffman and Tom McClintock.

Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC. My new followers include @@CapSouth and @mgleeson.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate meets at 10 a.m. and holds a cloture vote on the nomination of Kent Yoshiho Hirozawa to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board for the term of five years. The House is in at noon with votes expected around 6:30 p.m. on amendments to the 2014 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Legislation considered under suspension of the rules includes the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act and Collectible Coin Protection Act.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra and Sen. John McCain speak at the AFL-CIO & Economic Policy Institute's "Dimensions of Citizenship" forum, which begins at 9 a.m. at the AFL-CIO, 815 16th St., NW. The event will be live-streamed, open to the press and moderated by ABC's Ted Hesson. RSVP here: http://bit.ly/1aTUJP5

HERRERA BEUTLER DELIVERS ‘MIRACLE’ BABY GIRL – Tal Kopan writes for POLITICO: “Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler announced the birth of her daughter Monday, saying she is the first baby born with a particular debilitating condition to breathe on her own. Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) gave birth to her daughter, Abigail Rose Beutler, on July 15 in Portland, Ore., she wrote in a post on her Facebook page. Herrera Beutler called her daughter ‘every bit a miracle’ — she was 28 weeks along in her pregnancy and the child had been diagnosed with an often fatal condition. Herrera Beutler announced in June her child had been diagnosed with Potter’s Syndrome, only a few weeks after announcing her pregnancy. ‘She is active, stable and breathing on her own,’ Herrera Beutler wrote Monday. ‘As far as every doctor we’ve spoken with knows, Abigail is the first baby with bilateral renal agenesis to breathe sustainably on her own.’ Because the local hospitals couldn’t perform dialysis necessary because of lack of kidney function, Herrera Beutler said Abigail took her first trip to California at 16 hours old, where a hospital performed surgery and began dialysis.” http://politi.co/1c9FPHqWrite a message on her Facebook wall here:http://on.fb.me/13jbjGh

HEIRESSES APPARENT: DAUGHTERS TAKE TURN IN POLITICAL SPOTLIGHT – Emily Heil writes on A1 of the Washington Post: “American political dynasties historically have been built on power passed from fathers to sons, brothers to brothers, even husbands to wives: the Adamses, the Kennedys, the Bushes, the Clintons. Now, it is the daughters’ turn. When Michelle Nunn announced her bid to become a U.S. senator from Georgia this week, she scrambled the usual red-state, blue-state political calculus, putting in play a seat that could tip the balance of power in the Senate. Without Nunn’s powerful political last name, there would be little hope that the 46-year-old Democrat who has never run for public office could win in that solidly conservative state. But in politics, names have coattails. In Nunn’s case, it will boost her ability to raise money and build support from backers of her father, former senator Sam Nunn, revered in his home state for his 24-year Senate career and his post-congressional work on nuclear nonproliferation.

-- “A similar father-daughter tale is unfolding in Wyoming, where Liz Cheney, daughter of longtime congressman and former vice president Dick Cheney, is mounting what would otherwise be a long-shot bid to topple incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi in the Republican primary. Perhaps more than any previous year, the 2014 midterm campaigns feature a wave of daughters eager to embrace their fathers’ political legacies while forging their own political futures. And at a time when the 2016 presidential field appears likely to include both the son of a prominent politician (Rand Paul) and the wife of a president (Hillary Rodham Clinton), it is no surprise that daughters are forming a political class of their own.

-- “Political newbie Gwen Graham is expected to amass an impressive war chest in her bid for a northern Florida U.S. House seat, thanks in part to her father, former Democratic senator Bob Graham. In Nevada, Democratic political consultant Erin Bilbray-Kohn is running to unseat two-term Republican Rep. Joseph J. Heck. Her campaign Web site identifies her only as “Erin Bilbray,” perhaps trading on the name recognition of her father, former congressman James Bilbray. … Another political scion, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, has launched her first Senate run. Though the seven-term Republican is no newbie, she owes some of her political chops to her dad, Arch Moore, a former West Virginia governor and congressman.” http://wapo.st/15sOYWg

SENATE EASILY CONFIRMS COMEY FOR FBI POST – Jeremy W. Peters reports for the New York Times: “The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed James B. Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday even as Republicans and Democrats struggled to hold together the fragile deal that preserved the filibuster for executive branch appointees. After approving Mr. Comey on a 93-to-1 vote — with Rand Paul the lone ‘no’ vote — the Senate was also expected this week to approve Samantha Power as ambassador to the United Nations and the nominees to the National Labor Relations Board who were part of the 11th-hour pact that kept Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, from changing the filibuster rules. But it was unclear how Republican objections to two other nominations — those of B. Todd Jones to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Mel Watt to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency — could threaten the détente with Mr. Reid and Democrats.” http://nyti.ms/19uqwYW

-- OBAMA’S REACTS: “I applaud the overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Senators who today confirmed Jim Comey to be the next director of the FBI. Jim is a natural leader of unquestioned integrity. In the face of ever-changing threats, he has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to defending America’s security and ideals alike. With Jim at the Bureau’s helm, I know that the FBI will be in good hands long after I’ve left office.

“As welcome as today’s vote is, however, the Senate still has work to do. Like the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a critical law enforcement agency, and it has been without a confirmed director for far too long. I urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Todd Jones, my nominee to lead the ATF, so that he and his team can do their part to keep American families safe. As Senators from both parties recognized today, we cannot allow partisan politics to get in the way of protecting the American people.”

BAUCUS, CAMP CONTINUE TAX REFORM ROAD SHOW – The Hill’s Bernie Becker in Philadelphia: “Congress’s top tax writers sought support for a streamlined code on Monday in a visit that served to highlight the obstacles in their path as much as their ambition. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s (R-Mich.) second stop in a national barnstorming tour was focused on how to simplify the code for small businesses trying to compete with corporate heavyweights. ‘It’s messy. Different people have different points of view,’ Baucus told reporters at the end of the stop. ‘But we’re all headed in the same direction — it’s 'simplify.' It is too God-blessed complicated. Simplify it.’ …

-- “In heading to Philadelphia and Lawrenceville, N.J., Baucus and Camp continued their quest to leverage outside-the-Beltway pressure to force a skeptical White House and a gridlocked Congress to act on their legacy-fulfilling goal of tax reform. But the skepticism facing Baucus and Camp, each facing the final 17 months of their chairmanship, is also born of real policy differences — especially on the question of whether a rewritten tax code should raise more revenue to reduce deficits.” http://bit.ly/1e7YMH7

FILNER WANTS TAXPAYERS TO PICK UP TAB FOR LEGAL FEES – Tony Perry writes for the L.A. Times: “Mayor Bob Filner's attorney asked that the City Council pay his legal bills as he fights allegations of sexual harassment. The request came to the San Diego city attorney on Monday and will be considered in closed session by the council on Tuesday. Seven of the nine council members have urged Filner to resign. Several have said that the city should not be forced to pay his legal fees because his alleged misconduct was not part of his official duties. In the past, the city has paid several million dollars in legal fees for city officials in scandals involving illegal campaign contributions and the city's pension deficit. One of Filner's former top aides has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit seeking unspecified damages. The aide said she was put repeatedly in the "Filner headlock" and told on one occasion to come to work without panties.” http://lat.ms/156cOtq

MONDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Lucas White, a law student at Washington and Lee, was the first to correctly answer that Jerry Brown is the present-day governor who received delegate votes at the 1976 Democratic National Convention.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – Claude Marx has a baseball question today: Who was the last Republican in the White House when the New York Yankees won the World Series? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

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House Republicans will take a carefully orchestrated, staunchly anti-Washington campaign to voters this month, blaming President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats for Americans' unhappiness with government.